To hear some tell it, Thursday’s Times Square shootout, in which hero cop Christopher Newsom gunned down a semi-automatic-wielding scam artist, was a lesson in the evil of illegal guns.

“There are too many guns on the street,” Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday, yet again — also bashing “dealers who are selling guns illegally.”

Well, sure. But if Mike thinks this near-tragedy presents an opportunity to renew his crusade against Virginia gun shows and such, he’s missing the point.

For the episode shows quite clearly that plenty of work remains to be done right here in New York.

Here’s what’s disturbing: According to police, gunman Raymond Martinez, 25, and his brother were engaged in what amounts to an updated version of the pre-Giuliani squeegee-man scam when Officer Newsom approached him.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that hustlers purporting to be rap artists have become increasingly ubiquitous around Times Square, intimidating tourists into “purchasing” their CDs.

Of course, cracking down on that sort of nuisance crime was pivotal in returning order to the city in the ’90s — just as neglecting it spawns more serious crime.

Even Martinez’s “lyrics” make this plain: “I’m on a mission in Times Square wishin’ that a cop die before he reach me . . . it’s still f— you pay me or else,” the late rapper intoned.

This is not the sort of guy, in other words, who should be given the impression that he can operate with impunity at the Crossroads of the World.

What’s more, cops in the ’90s quickly found that arresting turnstile jumpers and their ilk was an excellent way of nabbing crooks with outstanding warrants — or who were packing heat.

That clearly would have been the case Thursday: According to police, Newsom had merely asked to see Martinez’s tax license when the latter fled, then turned to fire at his pursuer.

If nothing else, the shootout is yet another reminder that New York’s Finest daily put their lives on the line — even on routine patrols.

And, as ever, that tough policing is Gotham’s first — and only reliable — defense against crime.